Many Mass Shooters Are Democrats, Says GOP Rep

Many mass shooters are Democrats, GOP U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney alleged in a radio interview with Albany, New York, radio station WGDJ-AM.

Tenney was discussing last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and its aftermath Wednesday with talk show host Fred Dicker when the first-term Congresswoman from central New York made her comments, according to The Washington Post.

Tenney told Dicker that she feared "a lot of these legal gun owners are going to be targeted now" because of the shooting backlash, even though "in their demographic they have the least amount of crimes of virtually any other demographic." The comments begin at about the 33:00 mark of the radio interview.

Dicker charged that most gun crimes take place "in what's euphemistically called the inner cities involving minorities, and they're the ones that Democrats generally are going to bend over backwards to protect."

"Obviously there's a lot of politics in it," Tenney continued on the radio show. "It's interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats but the media doesn’t talk about that either."

Tenney later defended her words in a statement to The Washington Post, charging that it was Democrats who dragged politics into school shooting incidents.

"I am fed up with the media and liberals attempting to politicize tragedies and demonize law-abiding gun owners and conservative Americans every time there is a horrible tragedy," Tenney wrote to the Post.

New York Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat running to unseat Tenney, attacked her in a Twitter post over the comments.

First, @RepTenney said Democrats are un-American. Now this. This toxic rhetoric is shameful and a new low even for Ms. Tenney. Inserting politics into a national tragedy is beyond the pale & disgusting. She should apologize now to spare our region any more national embarrassment. https://t.co/o85LNfoufP

— Anthony Brindisi (@ABrindisiNY) February 21, 2018

"Will & Grace" Actress Debra Messing criticized Tenney as well.

@claudiatenney You are an embarrassment. Americans are being massacred on a regular basis by men wielding AR15s and you make a pathetic attempt to paint the murderers as democrats? I can’t WAIT to VOTE YOU OUT. That’s right. I am a constituent. For now. #Shame #VoteThemOut https://t.co/ve2JSXXvwS

— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) February 21, 2018

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Evan Lukaske issued a statement against Tenney as well.

"Once again Congresswoman Tenney has demonstrated how completely unfit she is to serve in Congress," Lukaske stated. "… Tenney's comments are unhinged, shameful and disgusting, and show why voters will replace her next November."

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